As part of our#NALPKnows series, we talked to Shayne Newman, Landscape Industry Certified, President of YardApes in New Milford, Connecticut, about working together as a team, and leaving it on the field during LANDSCAPES 2015.

Sports analogies often hit home in the business world, and that’s how it is in our company. When someone mentions leaving it on the field, I immediately think about how important team play is to the success of our projects and our company overall. Working together as a team doesn’t happen overnight and it’s not necessarily something you can teach. It has to be part of the company culture.

NFL teams don’t share the same level of success. That’s where training and preparation comes into play. In our industry, LANDSCAPES is akin to football’s training camp. I’ve been going there for 15 years and absolutely always learn something to make our team more successful.

Yes, there’s a cost associated with taking team members, but I’ve found whatever the cost is, the ROI more than makes up for it. First, it introduces them to the industry big picture, and so many times over the years, they’ve been impressed by the sheer number of people there who are passionate and excited about our industry.

I challenge each of my employees to return home with 10 great ideas taken from the educational and networking sessions. A week or two after we return from the trip, we will review each of our top ten lists and discuss which ideas we plan on implementing and when.

LANDSCAPES impact, however, goes beyond the actual event and the review session that follows. I’ve found that attending with managers gives someone else back home and opportunity to step up and assume more responsibility. It helps us to gauge who’s capable of taking on more responsibility in the future.